Marketers of services and products within competitive markets look to high-impact advertising solutions to help consumers identify and remember their product or service. Large, illuminated billboards have long been used as a popular form of high impact advertising, as well as the decades-old neon sign, popularized within bars and restaurants as advertisements for beer and other spirits. Modern advertisers, facing highly media-driven and technology-centric markets, have the challenge of identifying and implementing new and eye-catching alternatives in crafting their message and presentation. For instance, some advertisers have turned to the use of large, ornate props and comedic statues in connection with their billboard to catch the attention of potential viewers. Other media providers have turned to large, LCD video billboards to differentiate from the typical billboard and grab the attention of viewers.
Another form of advertising that currently grows in popularity, is the integration of advertisements with vehicles. Not unlike the banners and sky writing performed by aircraft in past decades, this allows advertisers to physically bring their message to their targeted market, whether it be a particular neighborhood, venue, or special event. Billboard trucks are one such form of mobile advertising. Another popular form of advertising are vehicle wraps on fleet vehicles that effectively print a billboard on the surface of an automobile. When combined with a unique, popular, or eye-catching automobile model, vehicle wraps can be used to maximum “head turning” effect.
Another technique used by advertisers to increase the visibility and impact of advertisement is the use of light. Night-lit billboards have been available for the better part of a century. Other modern billboards and window posters use light, such as back-lit video presentations, LEDs, and incandescent lighting to achieve high-impact effects. Creating a high-impact lighting presentation can be useful outside of advertising as well, including use in connection with emergency vehicles and safety products that need to quickly and effectively alert and grab the attention of the public. Many of these lighting solutions, within advertising and safety products, however, do not meet the desires of a market increasingly sensitive to the energy efficiency of their products and business practices. Additionally, some lighting solutions are limited in their application due to their weight, heat emission, fragility, cost, and bulk. For instance, traditional incandescent lamps and LEDs have to be used with caution because they tend to protrude from the surface of the product and may be easily damaged. In addition to this, some solutions using incandescent lights, neon lights and LEDs are bulky, heavy and produce unsuitable levels of excess heat. These deficiencies can cause some lighting solutions to be poor candidates for use in popular mobile or portable applications. Additionally, some of these conventional light sources are also prone to failure due to short operational life spans, or because they are not shockproof or water resistant, limiting their application to indoor or sheltered environments.